The Devil you know
by Midsully
Summary: They say the devil you know is better than the one you don't. But sometimes that devil knows you too and hates you more for it...
1. 1

17 year old Astrid Hofferson didn't know what to make of the events of the last few days. On Thursday, Hiccup Haddock has nervously approached her and stumbled his way through asking her out on a date. On any other day she would have turned him down without a second thought, however on this particular day Snotlout Jorgenson has been extra persistent in his attempts to 'woo' her and happened to be within earshot of the lanky and awkward boy asking her out; so in hopes to deter the stout muttonhead she accepted. It had the desired effect on Snotlout, but she forgot to factor in that she just agreed to go on a date with one of the schools outcasts.

And that led to Saturday night, Hiccup had picked her up and actually took her on an admittedly enjoyable date. He had been the perfect gentleman, opening her car door for her but never being pandering or condescending towards her. He took her to a very nice restaurant and afterwards took her to a local mini-golf course and worked just enough of her competitiveness to make it interesting and engaging, even promoting her to request a second round because she thought that she could beat his score. He had obliged with a crooked smile that she could help but find cute, and while she couldn't prove it, she was convinced he threw the second match.

After the golfing they got some dessert from the local ice cream shoppe and walked around the small lake at the city park before he drove her home. And now here she was, with him escorting her to the front door like a gentleman and politely ignoring her father watching them from the dining room window. The strangest part of the entire scenario was that Astrid didn't find it strange that she wanted a second date. "I had a good time tonight Astrid. Thanks for humoring me even though you only agreed to get Snotlout off your back for awhile." Hiccup said as they reached the door and looked at each other in the pale yellow glow of the porch light.

"You knew about that?" Astrid asked as she cringed in the inside, she felt bad because she did do that and he still went above and beyond to take her on the best date she'd ever been on, granted she had limited experience but he was easily the best by a wide margin.

Hiccup nodded and rubbed the back of his head in an adorable way that caused her mouth to involuntarily tilt upwards into a small smile. "It wasn't too hard to put together... I mean, your Astrid. You're the most amazing girl in school; your smart, great at sports and you're straight with people but respectful at the same time unless they're Snot, who has probably worn that generosity down long ago. And I'm... well me. Why else would you choose to go on a date with me?"

The compliments brought a rush of heat to Astrid's face and she was thankful the light was mostly hiding the blush, but at the same time she wanted him to know the truth of her experience tonight. So she tucked her fringe behind her left ear and lightly punched his arm. "That was for cliched compliments." She said quietly as he rubbed his arm with a slightly confused expression on his face. It was quickly erased when she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss that took both by surprise; Astrid barely even registered the sound of her father likely mashing his face into the window he was watching through in a childish attempt to stop them without incurring his daughter's wrath. " that was for... everything else. I really had a great time with you Hiccup and if you're not upset about the 'why' I agreed, then maybe we can go out again sometime?" Hiccup nodded dumbly with a goofy smile that filled Astrid's chest with a warm fuzzy feeling. The very idea of going on a second date with Hiccup made her feel almost lightheaded and giddy; she never would've pegged him as her type, but here she was getting excited about dating a nerd. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before slowly opening the front door to her house preparing to help her mother calm the patriarch of the Hofferson home, she took the time to watch Hiccup walk back to his car and wave goodbye to him as he drove away. She smiled at the thought of seeing him again in school again on Monday; as she made her way to her room completely bypassing her gobsmacked father, she wondered if Hiccup would be open to accompanying her to the gun range for a date.

——————————-

Hiccup was on cloud nine as he drove home after dropping off Astrid, he had been surprised to say the least when she said yes when he asked her out even if it was just to deter Snotlout; he was doubly surprised she actually honored that agreement when he showed up expecting to be given the ugly truth. And then she kissed him after it was all over! He could still hardly grasp it despite the tingle remaining in his lips, she even proposed going on a second date! He wondered if there was a legitimate luckiest man alive award because if there was he planned to throw his hat on the ring; after all, who could be luckier than the school loser scoring a date with the schools most attractive girl and her wanting a second date afterwards?

He pulled into a gas station to fill up the tank of his car and then he would make his final stop before heading home, he HAD to tell Toothless about his date while it was still fresh in his mind. He doubted the wolf could understand a word the boy would say but he always reacted appropriately to his tone. Just as he got the pump going he noticed something wrong, the convenience store lights were dark; but didn't close for another couple hours...

Cursing his curiosity Hiccup made his way over to the door into the store. He could see a few machines inside still turned on with weak neon lights giving poor visibility, against his better judgement he placed his hand on the door handle and gave an experimental tug. It opened. Taking a deep breath Hiccup proceeded inside, the electronic chime stayed quiet and cause the hairs on the back of his neck to rise; a small voice told him he should call the cops, but he knew if he did and it turned out the owner just closed up early and forgot to lock up he'd be in trouble with both his uncle(the chief of police) and his father(the mayor) so he rained to be sure of the situation. At worst he has to have them call Hoark and have him come back to lock the store up.

Too bad his was never that lucky.

Using the little light available he made his way to the counter and looked around it, and immediately wished he hadn't. Hoark lay on the ground, a pool of blood around him but Hiccup could just make out a slight movement in his chest that indicated life. The teen crawled over to the man and grabbed a towel from under the counter to press into the wound on the man's shoulder, he gave a soft groan as Hiccup applied pressure and found something to tie it down with. After he was positive that the wound was bandaged as best he could manage Hiccup looked back under the counter and used his phone's lock screen to provide some light, the revolver was just beside the register drawer like Hoark always warned rowdy teens about. The register itself had been torn out and emptied of all the bills; Hiccup prayed that meant the perpetrators were gone and he could just call the paramedics to come collect Hoark and hopefully save his life, but then he was reminded the gods hate him when the door to the back room crashed open and voices shouted in jubilation as they had likely managed to find and crack the safe kept hidden there.

"I told you this would be an easy score!" One said as the sound of the of a cooler door being opened and drinks being removed was heard, "That dumb old man was always bragging about how he protects his own money and keeps it under lock and key. We just had to worry about that gun he claims to have, and our boy here made sure of that by capping the old bastard when we walked in!" There was a noise reminiscent of a gloved hand clapping a shoulder followed by three sets of glass bottles clinking; Hiccup guessed that correlated to the number of thieves partaking in this robbery. Silently reaching for the .38 special and checking the cylinder, the lanky teen thanked whichever god was on his side as he found it loaded and a box of ammunition tucked behind the firearm. He knew grabbing the box would cause a sound and prayed that he the six rounds would be enough of a deterrent that he wouldn't need to use.

Quietly he crept to the edge of the counter and peered around in the direction of the voice and bottles clinking. There stood three men dressed in black and wearing baklavas which were rolled up to uncover their mouths enough for them to drink the beer they'd stolen. Gulping and checking the gun one last time Hiccup was grateful this version of the revolver had no external hammer that needed to be cocked, meaning should he need to pull the trigger he wouldn't have to alert them before hand. On shaking legs and with trembling arms he snuck over to the ice box near them and aimed the gun at the criminals, they were so absorbed in their drinks that he hadn't been noticed yet; something that lead Hiccup to believe he was dealing with amateurs starting off small with this robbery.

"D-don't m-m-move!" He stuttered as he kept them in the sight of the gun. All three whipped around and spotted the skinny young man and proceeded to laugh, Hiccup knew he wasn't the most intimidating looking but he was armed for crying out loud! Remembering what Gobber had taught him when teaching him how to handle firearms and the advice he'd given should the boy ever find himself in a situation like this Hiccup tilted the gun to the right just enough that he wouldn't hit them and pulled the trigger. The report of a gunshot was loud and the bottle sitting on top of the shelf next to one of the men exploding caught their attention, two immediately dropped what they were holding and put their hands up in clear surrender. The words of his godfather ringing in his mind as he trained the revolver on the remaining member of the group.

_Remember lad, criminals are cowards by nature; and if you show that yer willing to take action against 'em then most will back down. They might be dumb, but not dumb_ enough to think they're fast enough to pull a gun on ye _when yer already have one on them._

The final member was clearly unphased by the display of willingness to use the firearm trained on him, he almost seemed to be studying Hiccup as his head tilted slightly. He might believe that the boy was scared to actually shoot him(he'd be right) but Hiccup knew that being scared and armed could potentially be more dangerous than being calm and armed, he held onto the hope that he wouldn't have to find out if that applied to him tonight.

_Now lad, sometimes ye get a fella' brave, foolhardy, or jus' plain stupid enough to think that they can either get the gun off ye or pull their own on ye. Now while I hope this never comes to pass I'm gunna tell ye now, yer gonna have to pull the trigger on 'em; if they're willing to try that then they'll have no qualms about putting a bullet in that gullet of yers. But if yer acting in defense of yerself or others then do your best to wound 'em. Remember_ _killing_ _should always be a last resort in these situations._

Hiccup saw the man's intentions before he put them into action. The way his body tensed was the same way Snot's would before he hiked the football and slammed into the opposing player in front of him, this guy planned to charge him. Thinking quickly he aimed down and fired, the bullet tore through the man's thigh just as he lunged forward; causing him to veer off the the left and slam into the aisle shelving holding bagged snacks. Reminding himself there were two more Hiccup retrained the gun on the other two who hadn't moved except to cover their ringing ears, "Alright you two, there are zip ties just over there, take two and and tie your hands together. The police can sort out the rest when they get here." Hiccup commanded with an air of confidence that surprised even him. The pair complied and quickly had the zip ties fastened around their wrists, "Now go kneel over there by the soda machine, facing the door so they can see your restrained." Again the men complied and did as he ordered, he hadn't had them remove their masks; New Berk was a small town and Hiccup didn't want to risk that me might know them personally. One was about his size and the other was bigger and buffer, they seemed to communicate with just a look that implied either being related or having known each other for a very long time. Thankfully after seeing their third party being shot and groaning on the ground with a badly bleeding leg, they wisely decided not to try anything.

Once the men were settled Hiccup had planned to call the police himself, but he could hear the sounds of approaching sirens and assumed someone had called the police after one of the shots he'd fired. This worked in his favor as he now didn't need to risk taking his focus off the three men to dial. However the teen realized that the third man still needed to be restrained and have something to staunch the bleeding from his leg, so while keeping the other two in sight he moved over to where the zip ties were and picked up one before working his way over to the injured man all the without turning from the other two. Just as Hiccup was a few feet from the man he lurched up into a sitting position and raised his arm, brandishing a handgun. Hiccup reacting on instinct, aimed and fired a third time and when he was fully cognizant again saw the man was now lying on the ground again and this time there was a pool of blood spreading from beneath him; the hole in his chest and his slowly glassing eyes told Hiccup what he'd done in that instant.

The two remaining men must have noticed his shock, because they jumped up as best they could and ran for the door. Hiccup shook himself and gave chase, the police were close and he couldn't let them get away when they were a party to attempted murder. "Stop! Don't make me shoot you too!" He shouted as he burst out the door and reluctantly trained the gun on the larger man's back, he gave one last call to stop and was about to fire when the cop car pulled in with it's headlights on him and sirens blaring. The light blinded him and the men made it to the woods as the car door opened and he could hear a gun leaving its holster.

"Boyo! Put the gun down and your hands behind your head!" Hiccup recognizes the voice of his uncle immediately and did as he was told.

"Uncle Spitelout! Hoark is inside and injured, bullet to the shoulder. There were three men, one forced my hand and I had to shoot him... twice. The other two ran when I had to fire at him the second time, they just went into the woods there so I think you can still catch them." He quickly explained, he was surprised however when a cuff closed around his wrist instead and his hands were jerked around so the other could be cuffed as well.

"Save the story boyo, I always knew you were no good. First you go and steal my boy's girlfriend and now you're trying to play off your attempted robbery of Hoark's store." Spitelout said gruffly as he tried to steer his teenage nephew that he despised into his car.

"Uncle Spite, I'm not trying to pass anything here! Go check behind the counter, Hoark was shot in his right shoulder and he has a towel with some string tied over it as a makeshift bandage! I did that! Why would I try to rob this place anyway? You know me better than this!" Hiccup shouted and writhed to try and get his thick headed relative to listen, it was for naught as the man cleft him on the back of the head and made his vision swim.

Suddenly the pressure from his uncle was gone and sounds of a struggle could be heard. Hiccup shook his head again to clear his sight and right the world again in time to make out the familiar growl of his best friend and closest guarded secret: Toothless. Spinning around he found the fully toothed wolf with his maw clamped around Spitelout's belt and pulling him back away from the boy, when the police chief fell over the belt was released and Toothless ran over to Hiccup and jumped up to lick his face. "Yeah, yeah. I'm ok bud, but you need to get out of here; I don't want anything to happen t..."

The sound of a gunshot rung louder than any other he'd heard that night; but he could still hear to yelp and whimpering from his canine companion clear as day. Hiccup watches as his furry friend went limp in his arms and he fell under the weight and dropped the wolf to the ground as yet another puddle of blood began to form before his eyes, the boy got to his knees and tried to stop the bleeding with his bare hands, already red from when he bandaged up Hoark. "No no no... Toothless, c'mon bud you'll be ok. You're gonna be just fine." Hiccup whispered and prayed to every god he knew and several he didn't asking any that would listen to help his friend, but he could feel the wolf's breathing slow; and just before it stopped the black wolf lifted its head just enough to lick his cheek one last time.

"Spitelout! Why did you do that!? He wasn't a threat he was just trying to get you away from me because he thought you were trying to hurt me!" Hiccup shouted as he rounded on his uncle, his vision gone red in anger at the needless murder of his friend. He took two long strides forward with his hands outstretched to grab the collar of Spitelout's shirt when another shot rang out.

It took him several seconds to realize that the bullet had gone through HIM.

The adrenaline had numbed the pain and allowed him to reach his uncle, but his strength gave out before he could grab him. The last thing Hiccup was aware of was Spitelout radioing someone, probably to call in the incident. Then everything stopped.

-7 years later-

24 year old Astrid Hofferson was beat. Being a rookie on the police force she was being run ragged to prove her merit, she was hoping to get promoted in the next few years. The blonde woman had plans for the NBPD and they required her to make headway in the department to a position where she could enact real change, seven years ago after what was still the best date of her life. Hiccup had been shot in what was claimed to be a botched robbery on Hoark's gas 'n go, by his own uncle no less! But Astrid never believed that official story, in the time it would take to drive from her house to Hoark's there's no way Hiccup could've opened the safe in the back room even if he had an accomplice. The story on record states Hiccup and his partner, later identified as a man named Krogan Flier, entered the store while Hoark was alone; shot him in the shoulder and then took everything in the safe and register then Hiccup killed said partner before a couple civilians caught him; prompting Hiccup to try and kill them when they ran away. According to Spitelout's testimony this was when he arrived on scene and attempted to detain Hiccup who struggled and set a large attack dog on him, he claims he was forced to kill both in self defense.

The story never made sense to Astrid not only because she had just been on a date with Hiccup, but because the photos from the newspapers all showed a crucial detail that no one else seemed to notice: Hiccup's car was at a gas pump with a the pump still in his gas tank. Why on earth would someone try to rob a convenience store while filling their car with gas? She tried to point it out when she first saw it when the story broke, but no one wanted to listen to a teenage girl about a potentially important detail in an ongoing case. After that she became more determined to become a police officer than ever, she threw herself into her studies and her workouts to become the best damn recruit that New Berk has ever seen. Furthermore was the response from Hiccup's father, the mayor Stoick Haddock. The man never questioned the official story for even a second and posthumously disowned Hiccup on a live press conference; a decision that caused quite a stir when his best friend, and apparently godfather to Hiccup, Gobber Belch shouted in outrage and after a moment of arguing punched the mayor in the face before quitting his position and storming off. All sources indicate they never reconciled, Gobber was likely the only other person who didn't believe Hiccup was capable of the crimes of which he was accused. Astrid dug into the case when she started that the police department, luckily they stuck her in records and she had free access to it.

What she found only enraged her more.

There was next to nothing in the file! Everything has been taken at face value and Spitelout had declared it and open and shut case. Hoark has been interviewed and claimed he had no idea how he'd been bandaged but no one bothered to look further into it, Hiccup had been found with Hoark's revolver on the scene but the only other weapon found was a Glock 15 found near Krogan's body; yet no one asked why a robber wouldn't have his own gun and need to steal the owner's. Krogan's autopsy revealed he was shot twice, once in the upper leg and again in the chest, which punctured a lung and the man essentially drowned in his own blood. Astrid was smart enough to know that the leg wound was likely used to render his immobile, likely done in non lethal defense; whereas the killing shot was probably done when he brought his own gun out and as a last resort. Why were these obvious details being overlooked or ignored? When she took it to the chief he ordered her to stop snooping around old cases that were solved ages ago and the next day she was on patrol with her T.O. Eret Eretson.

It didn't take long to figure out Spitelout was a horrible cop and an even worse chief, and that he only kept his position because of his connection to Stoick; who was chief before him. So Astrid had to shift her plans, to become chief herself and rout the incompetence from the NBPD. She was given a chance to move along that path tonight, when a massive blizzard was heading toward town and she was assigned to working in the Great Hall, New Berk's largest emergency shelter, where the mayor and his entire staff would be to stay close to the people.

The blonde took a moment to center herself before reporting for duty inside, taking her phone out of her pocket and bringing up a picture from that night. The picture was of her and Hiccup about to start their second round of mini-golf and they were both laughing and looked to be having a great time(which they did). It's not like she hadn't tried to move on, she really had. Astrid had gone on several dates with multiple men, some of which even seemed genuinely nice; but none measured up to Hiccup. She never felt that warm fuzzy feeling she got after that first kiss with him, which left her lips tingling for hours after; all the while Hiccup was being killed. There were some that lasted more than a couple dates, that made it to a relationship; but ultimately they all fell short of her ideal romantic partner with a lack of auburn hair, green eyes, and dry sarcastic wit that she wished she could've appreciated sooner. So Astrid would find justice for Hiccup in clearing his name one day, and maybe then she'd be able to finally find peace with the situation and herself. Putting her phone away and taking a deep breath, Officer Hofferson got out of her squad car and made her way into the shelter for the night, the blizzard would be upon them soon

——————

The blizzard hit hard. Nearly the entire town was squeezed into the Great Hall and Astrid found herself helping parents find their misplace children most of whom were trying to use the powered off arcade area. But one tall man in a black coat and hat had stuck out in her mind, despite the warmth in the building from the heating and the decorative, yet functional, fire pit he remained wrapped in his layers and seemed to be looking for someone; however em when asked he stated there where others that required help more urgently than him. Unfortunately she ended up working with Snotlout for much of the evening, the man never managed to get it through his skull that she wasn't interested in him on any level. After the incident with Hiccup and Spitelout it had taken the stout boy all of ten minutes to start flirting with her and attempting to use the tragedy of his cousins fall to crime as a means to get a sympathy date, Astrid had given him a black eye instead.

Now things were calming down inside the building, but outside the storm just got worse. They had been getting reports of roads icing over and becoming impossible to drive and the cold reached new levels as it forced the officers working the streets to make sure everyone was safe to retreat indoors wherever they could or risking freezing to death. Gothi, the best and oldest doctor in town, declared(in her barely readable chicken scratch) that it was the worst blizzard she's seen in her entire life, as well as the coldest.

It wasn't until Stoick stood to address everyone that things went crazy.

"Alright everyone! I know it's pretty bad out there and some of you are worried about your loved ones that aren't here. But we're Berkians! We are descendants of the mighty vikings themselves and this is just another devastating winter blizzard, nothing truly new. After all, better the devil you know than the one you don't right?" The mayor's voice carried over the entire room and people shouted heartily in agreement, the viking blood within them showing its stubbornness with a pinch of pride.

That's when something big hit the large double doors. They were barred shut as a safety precaution against the wind, but whatever hit the doors rattled them and strained the bar, causing many young kids to scurry about to their parents; even Stoick himself looked a little worried by it. After a moment everyone breathed a sigh of relief just before another loud crash hit the doors, this time causing a large crack to form in the wooden bar keeping them closed and several in the doors themselves. The officers and some of the bigger men near the entrance rushed the door and pushed it closed again as some wind managed to get it and lower the temperature, but another crash came and many were thrown into their backs as the cracks spread over the doors and the bar splintered in the middle, barely holding together.

"I don't know Stoick." A new voice spoke, it had a nasal quality but somehow felt sinister at the same time. "Sometimes the devil you know can be far worse. Because that means he knows you as well, and has far greater potential to hate you." The tall man in black stood above the people on the other side of the Great Hall, on top of a counter that was meant for parents to watch their kids from. "The devil you know is often one of your own making, in fact. And when that'a the devil you're offered, you should definitely pick the one you don't know for your own sake."

Stoick looked at the man with unfiltered rage, he wasn't the type of man who people contradict often. Whether it be due to his side or New Berk's seemly shared IQ, few ever questioned him let alone outright challenged his authority in front of nearly the entire town's population. "And who are you to say this hmm? You must be a stranger here to keep yourself bundled and hidden like that here in a shelter!" The large man shouted at the mysterious person.

"Who am I?" The man asked slowly. "Why Stoick I'm hurt... or at least I would be if you'd ever actually gave a damn about me in life." The cost and hat fell to the floor and beneath was a man with unruly auburn hair and cold green eyes that Astrid was looking at a warmer version of in a memory of mere hours ago, it was impossible yet at the same time she was seeing it with her very own eyes... Hiccup Haddock was standing on the counter and glaring at his father. He was older, like she was, and clearly angry with the man who raised him.

Astrid was desperately trying to wrap her head around what she was seeing. She had seen the crime scene photos, seen Hiccup with the bullet wound in his chest and the glassed over eyes that indicated death. She had read the autopsy report and visited his grave several times both over the months after his death and the years since, and here he was standing thirty yards from her and it made no sense whatsoever.

She was not the only one to have this train of thought. "Hiccup?" Stoick said in disbelief, "You're alive?" The man's face was a complex mixture of emotions; anger, joy and awe wrapped in confusion swam across his face as he took in the visage of his supposedly deceased son.

Hiccup chuckled darkly in a way that sent chills down the spine of everyone present, "Actually no, I'm well and truly dead. But it seems I got enough stubbornness from my viking heritage that even death couldn't keep me down forever." The fire flickered and diminished significantly despite the men managing to hold the double doors shut now. His response only garnered more questions, how could he be dead if he was standing right in front of them? He certainly didn't look like a zombie, or act like one, it they were real and he wasn't talking about drinking blood so that ruled out vampirism if that existed.

"Enough of the games boyo! How are you here!? I know I was forced to shoot you and I know you died that night, so how are you here!?" Spitelout brought himself into the discussion and directed attention to himself in a way that was reminiscent of his son. Hiccup turned his baleful glare unto his uncle and the fire flickered again before going out completely, causing the temperature drop. There was a loud growl and the doors were flung open with a crash as a enormous black wolf barged in, causing many to scream and move to as far back as they could without having to leave the now relative safety of the Great Hall; the creature padded over behind Hiccup who lifted a hand to pat the side of its head without looking away from Spitelout or his father.

"It's like I said my dear murderous uncle..." Hiccup ground out of clenched teeth and ice began to spread across the floor from beneath his feet. "Sometimes the devil you know is far worse than the one you don't. And I'm your devil now, I've fought my way through the entirety of Hell and it's armies just to be here and show this town exactly what it has wrought."

The storm outside stopped in an instant, but the cold persisted. As Astrid realized that Hiccup wasn't speaking in metaphors. He stretched his arm out and in his hand formed a spear of ice formed as the paws of the wolf became engulfed in blue flames. He had literally fought his way out of hell itself, and New Berk was about to pay the price...

**A/N: trying writing on my phone so not sure how this will turn out. Anyway had this idea floating around in my noggin for awhile now so share your thoughts, I have more planned out but if people don't like it I can leave it as a fun little one shot **


	2. 2

Hiccup, or as he'd revealed himself: the devil, looked over the crowded room of people in the Great Hall. Many he recognized from his life in New Berk, several of which he was looking forward to having tortured for all eternity. There were a number of small children that were either toddlers or hadn't been born when he died, they would be spared his wrath.

Finally his gaze rested on his father, did Stoick even qualify for that title now that Hiccup was a demon? His eyes narrowed as he brought his arm holding the ice spear back; it didn't matter. He let the spear loose and it hurtled towards the large man who hadn't moved since Hiccup removed his disguise, it would be a costly mistake...

—————

Astrid watched in what felt like slow motion as the spear soared toward Stoick Haddock. There was nothing she could do to stop it from impaling the mayor at this distance; even if a part of her was still angry with the man for disowning Hiccup like he had, she didn't wish death upon him. Her body was trying to move, trying to do anything she could to serve and protect...

And then the spear stopped mere inches from Stoick's beard. It floated there in the air for several moments before it cracked and shattered apart leaving finely ground ice flakes on the floor, "No no no..." Hiccup thought aloud, "this isn't the way. This would be over far too quickly, and after all that I've done to be here I want to savor this feeling for as long as I can before shuffling you off to eternal damnation." He put his right hand under his chin in a thinking pose and tapped his temple with his left before turning from the crowd altogether while muttering to himself.

The report of the shot fired echoed much louder in e Great Hall than it would have anywhere else in town. Many civilians screamed again and mothers clutched their children to them in order to protect them with their lives, all this covered Astrid's scream of "NO!" when she saw Hiccup's head pitch forward and blood splatter across the wall he'd been looking at while muttering to himself. The self proclaimed devil didn't move for a brief moment in time and then collapsed forward, blood pouring out as everyone looked for the shooter.

Snotlout stood just apart from the crowd with his gun still drawn and aimed at Hiccup's body, he was trembling a bit. Astrid was ready to criticize his use of lethal force without trying to deescalate the situation, but Spitelout got to the man first. "Well done boyo! You just stopped a terrorist before anyone was seriously hurt or killed!" His father exclaimed with something akin to pride as he clapped Snot on the shoulder and the people began to applaud. It became a low roar when Astrid remembered that Hiccup wasn't the only threat; she turned her gaze to the large wolf whose paws as well as the tip of it's tail were still alight with blue flame, it didn't seem too upset over Hiccup being shot and was in fact lounging. What worried Astrid was there was no sign of the body.

The cheers began to die down until there was only one person still clapping, a slow and somehow sarcastic clap. From within the crowd Hiccup emerged with a sinister smirk on his face, when he stood before his cousin and uncle he let out a dark chuckle that didn't sound right coming from the boy she had gotten to know seven years earlier. People backed away from Hiccup, the shocked look on their faces was surely mirrored on her own, they had just seen this man shot in front of them yet here he was standing among them.

"Bravo Snotlout, very decisive of you. Honestly I was expecting a shoulder wound from Astrid over there, though I suppose my appearance might shock her almost as much as it does Stoick." Hiccup said while pointing directly at her then Stoick as he said their names, Astrid wasn't sure whether she was happy or apprehensive that he had noticed her after all. "Anyway a valiant effort, but all for naught I'm afraid. You see one of the perks of being dead: you can't die again. Believe me I've put that to the test extensively. Now how about you and I take a little trip to where I've been for a while..." Suddenly Hiccup was gone, as if a wisp in the wind. A startled shout brought attention back to Snotlout who was now being lifted by the collar of his uniform by Hiccup, in another blink they were gone.

"Quick! Out the door before he comes back!" Someone shouted. The people were quick to react, but before the officers left could even begin to try and get them to move calm and orderly the wolf's growl permeated the air; so much so that Astrid could practically feel the rumbling of the animal's(?) throat on the back of her neck. People looked to the main exit and found the large beast was now hunched in the doorway, ready to snap at anyone who was foolish enough to come too close.

A large formation of ice popped up from the ground and shattered immediately moments later, revealing Hiccup and a very pale Snotlout, the stocky young man stumbled as the taller one released his collar and nearly bowled into his father. The police chief examined his son, felt his rapid heartbeat and the trembling throughout his body. Looking at the devil before them, he choose to act like a father in that moment. "What have you done to my son you bastard!?"

Hiccup merely smirked at the man. "Oh nothing in comparison to what I have planned in store for you dear uncle. He just got to live my last living memory a few million times."

Snotlout shook and seemed to regain a little color. "It was horrible, no matter what I said you dad, you just kept shooting me; killing me. Repeatedly, for what left like years." Snotlout looked down and saw Spitelout's hands on his arms and seemed to have a small panic attack before he pushed himself out of the chief's grip.

"Don't be daft son, you were only gone for a few moments. Not even a full minute." Spitelout told his son, who just backed away from him further.

"Another one of the many perks of hell right there! It exists outside of time. So what was just a few seconds for you was the equivalent of about a century and a half for dear Snottykins here. After making him experience the scripted version of events from that night, I freed it up to some improv to see what he would do, and he just kept being killed by his own father. Well a hell replica of you, but you get my point." Hiccup boasted with a touch of humor in his voice, as if he found the psychological impact that could have on a person funny. "But don't you worry, I've got a different special scenario lined up for each and every one of you. No one will be getting the same as anyone else, in hell we torture because we care!" He closed as if he were in a bad late night infomercial.

The wolf clamed and looked out the doorway, then turned back to Hiccup and nudged him. "Huh?" Hiccup asked while looking over her shoulder, "Oh I see, yeah bud you're right." The devil turned to address the crowd as a whole again. "Well people of New Berk, you're all going to help me with a little work experiment. I won't be killing you all immediately and taking you to hell; instead I'm going to block off the outside world and either let you all slowly die miserably or destroy each other yourselves. Being the devil I'm privy to all your sins, and I'll be using them to upend your lives as the mood strikes me. And to prove it...". He pointed at a man standing next to his wife, "Stefner there has three mistresses, his wife's sister, her best friend, and his secretary." He then pointed to Spitelout, "And the police Chief here has be skimming funds from the annual budget to line his pockets, as well as taking bribes to overlook small crimes that he can write off without drawing too much suspicion."

And with that a flurry of snow whipped by the door and both Hiccup and his monster wolf were gone. The blizzard didn't pick back up and temperatures returned to that of a typical New Berkian winter. Moments later two women started shouting at Stefner, the one next to him(presumably his wife) was smacking him with her heavy designer purse. Meanwhile Stoick was glaring at his brother with a near murderous look in his eyes. Astrid just sighed and took the lead to start ushering civilians outside and urging them to go home.

—————

Stoick was not looking forward to this visit. The man never enjoyed having to admit his wrongs, but this time he needed to repair what was broken. He hadn't been to this address in nearly six years, Gobber had made it clear after Stoick disowned Hiccup that he no longer wanted anything to do with the man; but if they had any hope of reasoning with Hiccup then his old friend might be the only person the devil could be civil with. Stoick is no fool, he knows that Gobber was closer to the boy than he'd ever been, Gobber had been the one that taught him how to shoot and some rudimentary self defense, both things his father should have done. Taking a deep breath the mayor lifted his meaty hand and knocked three times.

Gobber opened then door part way before he noticed who was standing there. When he tried to shut it in Stoick's face the other man blocked it with his foot, this time he couldn't afford to let their squabbles get in the way. "What are ye doing 'ere Stoick? I wan' nuthing to do with ye'! So take whatever half assed apology ye've brought and go back to yer fancy city hall." Gobber stated with a glare.

"Gobber..." Stoick began, "there is no apology this time. It would seem we are in a state of emergency and I believe that you might be able to help resolve everything without bloodshed." The mayor made no move to enter the house, the last time he had tried resulted in him narrowly avoiding a swipe from his former friend's literal left hook. "I don't know how to tell you this but... Hiccup is back."

Gobber searched the man he had once called brother for any sign of deceit, when none was found he sighed and beckoned him inside; it was the nicest gesture he'd given Stoick in years. "'Iccup's back ye say? So we got a zombie apocalypse is that what I'm ta believe?" He asked with heavy sarcasm that was reminiscent of the boy in question.

Stoick didn't fault him for not his doubt. In fact he himself was still struggling to accept it, let alone wrap the idea one could fight their way out of hell. "No, nothing like that. He was at the shelter during the storm earlier tonight, he claimed that he was the devil and has come to make New Berk pay for it sins. He almost killed me before he decided he wanted to draw it out. He even tried pitting me and Spitelout against one another with lies while claiming he could see our sins." Stoick explained, missing the clenching of Gobber's fist. "But the fact he went to hell in the first place tells me that Spitelout was right about him all along, the boy was a criminal and maybe I could have preve-"

Stoick never got the chance to finish his sentence as Gobber's fist caught him unawares. Stumbling right back out the door he'd just been invited through and landing on his backside in the snow, Stoick looked up in shock to see Gobber shaking in rage. "I was willing to give ye one final chance to admit yer wrongness about 'Iccup, to show yeh'd actually cared about the lad even just enough to give 'im the benefit of the doubt. But ye just double down and continue ta trust that lying, swindling, murderer brother-in-law of yers! He isn't like Valka, Stoick! He killed yer only son and ye never even bothered to ask could it have been avoided! Ye best get the hell out of 'ere and never darken meh door again, cause next time I promise to answer with ole Matilda!" Gobber shouted at him.

Shaking for a bit at the thought of the old double barrel shotgun that Gobber kept in pristine condition, but Stoick couldn't let this go without giving it his best effort. "Gobber, everything supported Spitelout's story. There was even footage of the attack dog Hiccup set on Spitelout. How can you blame me for looking at the facts and coming to the conclusion they lead to?" Please, we just need you to meet with Hiccup and ask him to abandon his plan."

Gobber laughed in a deranged dash that reminded Stoick of Oswald's slightly manic son. "Followed the facts? Stoick ye just ate up whatever bollocks story that Jorgenson fed ye! Did you ever once actually look into the investigation?" Stoick didn't answer, they both knew he hadn't. "Smart enough not to lie at least. Of course ye didnae, because ye never wanted to know the truth! 'Iccup's car had been at the pump! Even the papers all got it in their pictures ye daft old fool! Ye were a great police chief years ago, but ye've lost yourself to politics. 'Iccup was a potential scandal so ye cut all ties, even denouncing 'im as yer son!" Gobber shouted, breathing labored from the raw emotion in his voice and holding back tears thinking of the injustice down to his godson. "If 'Iccup really is back and is the devil as he claims, then I wish 'im the best of luck. Now leave my home." And with that he slammed the door.

"I gotta say, I'm glad someone actually cared enough to question my quilt."

Gobber spun around and there in the living room on the arm of his couch sat Hiccup. Shocked Gobber took a few steps toward his godson. The younger man in question stood and closed the distance between them, stopping right in front of him. "Hey Gobber..." Hiccup said with a touch of insecurity. Gobber didn't respond and instead reached out a gently pushed on Hiccup's shoulder, making sure he was really real. "You're not going crazy, it's really me. I'm really here." Hiccup reassures the man before being swept up in a bone crushing hug.

After the initial surprise faded, Hiccup returned the hug. Smiling at the affection being given by the man who was more of a father to him than his own dad. "I don't understand how this is possible, but right now I don't right care. I've miss yer 'Iccup." Gobber said lessening his grip slightly, remembering his tendency to squeeze the lad a little too tightly in his youth.

"I've missed you too Gobber, and to how this is possible..." Hiccup trailed off rubbing the back of his head. "Well Stoick was telling the truth. I fought my way out of hell, gained a few abilities from demons I killed along the way; and now I'm back. I plan to make the people of New Berk pay for their treatment of myself and others who didn't fit their standards, but I wanted to let you know that you're safe from that. You're the only one who probably even cared when I died."

Gobber set him down and rested his hand/hook on the boy's shoulders. "Not the only one lad, that Hofferson lass ye had a date with. She came to the small funeral I could give ye." Gobber explained, "I've also seen her visiting yer grave a few times over the years. I ne'er approached her during those times, seemed private. I'd wager she might not buy into that hogwash story yer no good uncle sold the res' of the town as well."

Hiccup looked at his godfather with a look that could only be described as pure shock. Astrid had mourned him? The look slowly morphed into a posture of thinking as a new idea began to take shape in his mind, it was a long shot, but he felt it might be worth it.

"Is that so? Hmm, well then maybe I can spare one more person from a miserable few months followed by enteral suffering." Hiccup looked back to Gobber with a smile. "I need to go do something, but I'd like to visit with you again when I'm not leading these people to destroying their lives with their own bad choices, would that be okay?" Gobber smiles brightly and nodded with tears welling in his eyes, nothing would make him happier. The pair shared another hug before Hiccup vanished.

—————

Astrid walked into her home, a medium sized yet nicely furnished apartment located about ten blocks from the police station. Being reliable was a factor she had included in her plan to climb the ladder to chief, of course that was before her motivation come back from the dead and pledged to kill them all in one way or another. The presence of a pizza on her kitchen table put her on high alert.

With her hand resting on her sidearm, she began to scan her domicile. The kitchen was clear, as was the living room. That just left her bedroom and bathroom down the small hallway.

At least it would if her intruder was a regular human. Hiccup appeared suddenly in her kitchen holding a couple gallons of tea in his hands. Her mind told her that she should have her gun out and trained on him, but her body would not comply. Before she could compose herself and draw her weapon, he noticed her.

"Ah Astrid!" He said brightly with a smile that was the same as the boy she'd gone on a date with. "Sorry about that, I hope I didn't startle you."

Astrid was completely caught off guard, earlier he was practically evil incarnate; threatening to kill his own father and allegedly torturing Snotlout for a century as a half overt he span of a few seconds in a place that supposedly exists outside of time. Now he was technically breaking into her apartment, but her was acting like the boy that unexpectedly showed her what she wanted in a boyfriend at 17. How did he not get whiplash from that hard turnabout in attitude?(oh right, he's already dead)

"Why don't you go and get comfortable? Don't worry about the pizza I have ways of keeping it as warm as it was fresh out the oven." Hiccup said, not helping with her confusion. He held up the gallons of tea, displaying the labels that read 'HTeaO' with the shape of Texas around the name. "Would you like Sweet Georgia Peach or Sweet Wild Raspberry? I remember you liked the peach tea we had on our only date, so I tracked down the best tea in the world for you to try." He asked with a smile, again of furthering her bewilderment.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times before ultimately giving up on words and trudging to her room. She let out a gasp and almost had a heart attack when she noticed the wolf from before curled up on the floor beside her couch; only now he was the size of an ordinary wolf. Hiccup heard and rushed out to check on her without a second thought. "Oh right, forgot to mention him. Don't mind Toothless, he's mostly harmless. He just refuses to leave me after we were reunited in the afterlife. He won't do anything to you I promise." The animal raised his head and looked at Hiccup before glancing at her with eyes that held more intelligent than most of the people she went to school with, his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a friendly fashion before he resumed his nap.

Still at a lost for words the officer rushed to her room and changed into her civies, taking care to quietly find her preferred concealed carry gun hidden on the side of her nightstand between it and the bed. The sccy cpx-2 was right we're she left it when she was on duty or sleeping, pulling the slide back revealed it was in fact still loaded. Then again considering Hiccup already had one 9mm bullet to the head tonight and was unphased, she doubted another would be anymore of a problem; still she tucked it and her concealed holster on the inside of her jeans at the hip. Better to have some form of protection, regardless of how ineffective it might be; if she was lucky it might by her a bit of time should she need to run.

Returning to the kitchen she found Hiccup sitting at the table, he'd gotten paper plates and had two slices of pepperoni and bacon pizza ready for her. "It's still your favorite right?" He'd asked shyly. Astrid merely nodded, causing him to let out a sad sigh. "Astrid you have nothing to be afraid of, I'm not here to hurt you or anything like that. Just wanted to share a pizza and ask what's you've been up to since that night. And apologize for never getting to actually take you on that second date we talked about."

That seemed to reactivate her power of speech, "What the hell is this Hiccup!? Earlier you were determined to kill us all, the only reason you stopped is because you said you wanted us to suffer before actually going to hell! So what's with this nice act all the sudden? I was there tonight remember? You even pointed me out yourself! So drop the act!" She yelled at him, breathing hard as she finished pouring out the thoughts that had been bubbling beneath the surface since he 'popped' into her kitchen.

If Hiccup was bothered by her outburst, he didn't show it. Instead he lifted a slice of pizza and took a bite out of it, hmm-ing at the taste. "It no act Astrid. I'm being genuine with you right now, the whole thing at the Great Hall was partially an act." Hiccup answered before taking another bite, followed by a large gulp of his tea. "I am going to punish a lot of people in New Berk, but only the really crummy ones. Spitelout is top of the list, and nothing will enrage him more than seeing his order of safety in town fall apart around him and know there is nothing he can do. However I'm not harming innocents, you and Gobber are both safe because according to him you both mourned my passing, and I should probably mention I didn't try to rob Hoark's that night. I couldn't have even if I wanted to, I was riding a metaphorical high from that last kiss you gave me."

"So why are you here then? Just to tell me I'm safe?" Astrid pondered aloud, fighting down a blush at the thought of those kisses they exchanged seven years ago.

Hiccup shook his head. "No. I came to answer any and all questions you might have. I want to be honest with you."

Astrid crosses her arms, she'd test that statement. "Tell me how you got out of hell." Hiccup looked up at her and sighed, but nodded.

"Then we should probably move to your living room. It's a long story."

**A/N: so I was threatened with someone dying and haunting me if I didn't continue this story(you know who you are) and my wife said that if I get us haunted by another ghost she'd quite 'kick my tail', and she scares me so here you go. **

**A/N2: HTeaO is actually a real brand as are the favors mentioned, primarily based in multiple locations in Texas they literally do have the best tea I've ever tasted(as a Florida boy that's saying a lot) the flavors mentioned happen to be my wife's and my favorites. **


	3. 3

**A/n: so the majority of the chapter is Hiccup narrating, so it's written in first person which is a weak point for me. I apologize in advance. There will be an additional note at the end about other httyd I have planned.**

So where to begin? Well I died obviously. Most people assume there is some sort of system where you're told where you ended up and how you'll be tortured for all eternity; that's not how it works.

After my death, the first thing I became aware of was a biting cold. Having been only a teenager and a relatively average one, if not slightly below average, I ended up on one of the less torturous circles of hell. My punishment was simply to wander an infinite frozen tundra, where no warmth existed and shelter was impossible to build; of course you aren't aware of this when you find yourself there. My only thoughts were to keeping moving in hopes of finding somewhere to get out of the cold. How long I aimlessly trudged through the snow and ice? I cannot say, probably thousands of years; could've been months, like I said time works differently in the underworld.

But the worst of my time was when the cold became too much; I might have been dead, but I could still feel. I would be hungry, yet unable to eat; and my undying body was still susceptible to the freezing winds I was subject to. After the first week or so I found myself frozen solid, yet still very much aware. In time a portal would appear and a demon would emerge from it; in order to ensure I suffered, it would shatter my frozen body then leave. I lost count of the number of times I experienced the sensation of having my body broken into pieces, only to awaken sometime later while again and know I was meant to just keep walking.

Hundreds of thousands of times of being shattered later and I began to realize that I was forgetting parts of my life. I could no longer remember the faces of people I once knew, people I had grown up around. The thought terrified me, but it also highlighted something else: I could still remember the anger I felt when I was killed. My anger at my uncle burned just as brightly as when it occurred at the end of my life, and as time went on; I began to grow frustrated and angry with my time in hell.

My anger would turn to hate, like that little guy said in that movie series; but unlike in those movies that hate turned to warmth. In time I noticed that my body wasn't freezing over as quickly as it had been, so I began to formulate a plan. I purposely allowed myself to be shattered three more times before I was ready. The plan itself was simple, and as the saying goes, it was most effective. I had walked for days, allowing my hatred to burn stronger than ever and keep the cold at bay. After days of continuously walking in one direction as best I could, I stopped and fell to my knees.

And then I waited.

I sat there on my knees for days, with just my hate to keep my warm, until the demon arrived once more. It assumed I was frozen again and came to restart the cycle as was it's job; only this time when it got close enough, I launched myself at it. As powerful as the demon may have been, it was taken by surprise that I had managed to trick it. I don't remember much of what happened in that moment, I was delirious and fueled by anger; all I know is that when I was truly aware of my surroundings again the demon was dead.

In my fury, I'd managed to remove its arms and a leg; the killing blow had been from me using its own claws to remove its head. I'd like to say I was able to escape after that but it wasn't so simple. The removed limbs had set themselves ablaze with hellfire after they'd been severed, save the arm I used to kill it with; and despite the still howling winds around me the flames were burning hot. I took a moment to use the arm I held to make the other limbs into a single fire and then tossed it on like another log when I felt my stomach growled for the first time in a millennia. The body was still laying nearby and as much of a savage as it makes me sound... meat was meat.

Lacking tools to use I resorted to tearing chunks off with my bare hands and cooked them over the still burning limbs. When I was done I had eaten everything but the bones. I wasn't aware of it on account of savoring the sensation of having eaten for the first time in so long, but that was the moment I started down the path to taking over hell. After picking the remains clean, I was stuck by indescribable pain. It hurt so intensely that is was a mercy when I finally lost consciousness.

When I came to, the sensation of cold was gone. The eternal wind was still blowing, but it no longer bothered me. I was in the midst of being grateful for being free of that particular torment when I accidentally tore open a portal out of the circle I had been prisoner in. Needless to say I was more than eager to leave that god forsaken land of ice.

Looking back I might have been a hasty in my decision, as I landed in the middle of a room full of other demons. They reside in the spaces between the circles of hell, a place only they can access; guess even they need to take a break from torturing people forever. As you might guess, seeing a human enter their domain was not received very well.

The one nearest to me immediately went to attack me; the only thing I could do was put up my hand in a pathetic attempt to protect myself. As it turned out, that was exactly what I needed. Several large spikes of hell-ice erupted from the floor and impaled the demon, skewering his to bits. The display of power shocked me as much as the demons themselves. It didn't take me too long to realize I now possessed control over the ice that formed in hell, different from and deadlier than ice in the mortal realm and incredibly difficult to melt without hellfire, I was quick to related the action and slaughter the remaining demons present in the area I had escaped to.

The next decade or two, I really lost track of time at some point, I spent honing much control over hell-ice. Being free of the endless tundra also freed me from the effects it had on my body, hunger and sleep were no longer factors that could slow my progress in learning. I learned all of my abilities and came up with new way to utilize them, all for the express purpose of escaping from hell.

I learned how to read the demons language from writings present and even managed to decipher a way of speaking it, all for my next encounter with a still living demon. Of course with no real context of how hell was laid out it took some time, I was jumping from place to place at random hoping it would land me in another demon's presence. When I finally found one I was so frustrated with how long it took that I nearly killed it without thinking, desperate to take out my rage on something; I managed to control myself just before finishing the deed.

Turned out I was lucky, most lower demons are unintelligent as they only exist to torture and maim, I had found a baron of hell; the lowest of the higher class demons and the lowest capable of speech. After a... let's say pointed conversation, he revealed that no demon leaves without the express permission from the king of hell, the devil himself. My goal remained unchanged, but now I had direction; however the baron laughed and informed me that the devil would never give a human, even one that killed and somehow gained demon abilities, an audience; let alone permission to leave their damnation.

So I found the loop hole; if he wouldn't grant me an audience, I'd just become a thorn in his side until he had to meet with me. The baron was... persuaded to give me a layout of hell's structure, specifically whee the demons resided, and I began my conquest.

For the next three hundred years I tore my way through the circles of hell. I had become the demons nightmare, lower class demons fled from me while knights of hell died trying to prove me only mortal. The higher class demons began to lose control of the lower ones that served them, that is the fear I instilled in those deigned to eternally torment mankind. I had become a threat, so much so that a titanic demon rose to be hell's champion to finally deal with me.

It's corpse now lays across the entirety of the fifth circle.

The barons fell next, trying to pool their power and attack me all together. It was a solid plan, almost. Demons are by nature selfish beings and when the first few fell, the others became overly cautious; they paid dearly for their hesitation. After them I worked my way through the hierarchy of hell, until only the five strongest dukes remained.

I was working my way up to the next one on my list when a portal opened before me. The four horsemen of the apocalypse stepped out and informed me I had their King's attention and that I was to follow them.

Of course I suspected a trap, but the devil is supposedly clever so I played my cards close to the chest. Following the horsemen brought me to the devil's place, with the king himself awaiting me. He actually praised my actions in the decimation of the demons, claimed I made room for stronger ones to take their place. We sat and discussed terms for an end of my rampage; he offered me a place in his service, promising I'd want for nothing and could live like royalty. While tempting, I didn't bite; there was only one thing I wanted: out of hell. He said it was not going to happen, that I could either take the generous offer he gave, or he would lock me away in a far worse torment within the final circle.

Needless to say negotiations had broken down after that. I went with option three: Kill the devil and leave on my own.

The fight was brutal. My power was weaker, but the devil was arrogant; I just needed to wait for the right opportunity. We fought for centuries, destroying entire sections of different circles in our wake. Being the king of hell, he could instantly heal his wounds, of which I inflicted many; in order to truly finish the fight I had to kill him in a single blow.

Eventually we ended up back where I started, the endless tundra. It was here my power was strongest, though it still paled in comparison to the devil's. Returning to the place I was subject to my punishment provided a unique idea for me, opportunity had arrived.

Dropping to my knees I grabbed the sides of my head and began muttering to myself about not freezing and being shattered once more. My predecessor ate it up like candy. Approaching me with all the smugness in the world as he began to gloat about my fragile psyche and how he used it against me. Just as he was about to run me through with his sword of fire; he found himself on the wrong end of my hell-ice. Stabbing him in his torso, arms, hands, and legs, I stood to look at the once proud king. Only now did he realize the folly of his superiority complex, I gave him one final moment to think about it before I skewered his head with another spike.

The horsemen were waiting when I returned and presented them with what was left of their ruler. Without hesitation they each dropped to one knee and pledged fealty to me and presented a crown of fire.

And that is how I became the new devil.

—————

Astrid finished her latest slice of pizza, on Hiccup's suggestion she'd eaten while he recounted his time in hell. He too had a couple slices, having stated that just because he didn't NEED to eat doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy it still, she didn't blame him. "That sounds like it was really terrible Hiccup... I'm sorry you had to go through all that." She told him, prompting a shrug from the devil.

"Well it was either that or be tortured for the rest of forever like everyone else down there. Metaphorically speaking." He responded with indifference, he'd made his peace with it before ever coming back to New Berk. Suddenly he felt a tingle run up his arm, a new sensation for him even though he knew exactly what it meant. "Well this is interesting..." he said to himself before addressing Astrid who'd given him an odd look. "I'll be back in a few minutes, I know you still have questions. Just need to look into something that has piqued my curiosity." And with that he was gone in the blink of an eye.

Hiccup appeared on the other side of town standing in a circle with a pentagram in it painted with what seemed to be goat blood. There were candles lit around the room as well as the points of the pentagram, and figures standing in the darkness in front of him. "Well gentlemen..." the devil said with a grin, "What can I do for you this evening?"

**A/n2: so this is the second note mentioned at the start. As stated I have several other stories I'd like to write and uploading time, limiting myself to three in order to keep up with which one I currently need to update. But I also want to publish them in an order that those of you that will be reading them want to see. There'sone where the dragons are digimon(Toothless as Blackwargreymon anyone?), Hiccstrid and company in a Gundam story, a different Gundam based story likened to Gundam Build Fighters, one where Hiccstrid is divorced and circumstances force them back into each other's lives, a story where Hiccup learns he has a child he never knew about(time I had a story with Zephyr) and finally a story featuring the return of Johann when the riders are adults and featuring another King that had a movie in 2019(those of you who know who it is get a cookie)**


	4. 4

The two men were standing in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. "Tell me again why you are wasting our time with this juvenile dribble again?" The shorter of the pair asked irritably.

"I'm telling you, one of my boys saw the whole thing, they said he had unnatural powers, a giant beast of some sort under his command, and claimed he was the devil." The other answered, indicating to the pentagram and summoning circle he'd gone through a great deal to get a bucket of goat blood to create. "Think about it: we call him here and then bind him to our service. We'd be running this city in no time instead of sticking to the shadows and making deals with corrupt cops. This is our ticket to stepping up."

The first man rubbed his eyes wearily. "Brother, this is asinine at best. Even if what your man says is true, it doesn't mean these occult books are accurate. There's never been any type of material to suggest one can become the devil." He tried to explain, however the brother in questions simply waved him off and lit the candles.

Not wanting to be part of such foolishness, the second man stood back away from the recreation of tv/movie devil summoning. While he may not want any part of it, he wasn't going to let the opportunity to remind his elder sibling why HE was in charge of their operations.

With everything set and the candles all burning at the correct positions in the pentagram, the older brother began to recite Latin, poorly. Just before he finished the younger stepped forward, preparing to stop him wasting any more of their valuable time; when the candles flickered out.

They ignited again a second later, barely extinguished long enough for the dark to consume the room. But when their light returned, a man was standing in the middle of the circle. The man took in his surroundings for a brief moment before settling his gaze upon the two men. "Well gentlemen..." he started with a grin, "What can I do for you this evening?"

To say the younger brother was shocked would be an understatement, his brother had been right. He was so used to the man thinking more with his fists than his actual brain, so it wasn't hard to assume this would just be another failure from him trying to be the one coming up with the plan.

The elder man stepped forward and puffed his chest, trying to look as intimidating as possible; the strangers lack of reaction would suggest it wasn't working. "I am Ryker Grimborn." Ryker introduced himself, he motioned to his brother before continuing. "This here is my little brother, Viggo. We have summoned you here to form a contract."

The man quirked an eyebrow. "I'm very much aware of who you both are. The pair of you have an impressive wrap sheet: theft, extortion, bribery, even murder. I'd say you two rank in New Berk's top ten most wanted criminals, of course the amount of corruption in the police force gives you a decent amount of wriggle room doesn't it?" The man looked around the room once more before snapping his fingers, instantly the lights came on; which took the brothers Grimborn by surprise as there was no electricity in the building. "Now let's discuss the terms of this contract. I'm curious as to what you think could be worth the price you'll have to pay."

Ryker shook off his shock from the lights and quickly stepped closer, careful to remain outside the circle so the demon could not get it hands on him; a fact neither of the other two occupants of the room missed. "Our desire is quite simple: we wish to rule New Berk with an iron fist. With the two of us running things, not only will our operations be smoother; but we'd offer you the souls of our adversaries as well. You'd have several new souls to torment and we'd have the city under our thumb; my brother would call this a mutually satisfactory arrangement." He explained with a smug smile. Viggo seemed less than enthusiastic about the idea, he was all to familiar why the phrase 'deal with the devil' has negative connotations.

The man in the circle stood there with an similarly unimpressed look adorned on his face. "So I'd get the souls of those that either oppose you or stand in your way, is that correct?" He asked, prompting Ryker to nod. "And does he speak for you as well Viggo? You tend to be the one that calls the shots, yet this seems entirely your brother's plan."

"I was not privy to this... plan before my dear brother had already set everything up. I also would prefer to earn my power, however I will not abandon him now. Should you find the deal he offers acceptable then I too shall go along with it." Viggo answered. The man's smile was one that Viggo did not trust, it was one of someone holding a card that changes the outcome of the game. A card he himself preferred to be holding.

"Well there's a couple slight issues with the rough draft of this contract..." The man said while he paced the length of the small circle. "Firstly, is that for any deal with a demon, and especially the devil, the price is non-negotiable. While the souls you offer are tempting, they are inadequate payment; your souls and yours alone are the only ones that would satisfy the terms of the deal."

Viggo gave his brother a glare, barely noting the color draining from Ryker's face. The larger man stood with a huff and began to make his way to the door when it suddenly became covered in a thick layer of ice. The same began to happen with the windows and the lights began to flicker and darken.

"The second issue is your assumption that I take contracts to begin with. The old devil took the occasional one, but even then it had to be from a person that otherwise would not end up in hell. So as you can imagine there hasn't been a real deal struck in several hundred years." The brothers had nowhere to turn as every exit had been sealed off with the greenish ice that lowered the temperature enough to have them shivering from the cold.

The man laughed as he casually strolled out of the still perfect summoning circle. "Third is thinking anything you could offer me would spare your souls, you two have a spot in the sixth circle of hell where I intend to personally oversee your torture for the first ten thousand years. Or until I get bored, we'll see which comes first."

Ryker managed to find his voice has his pointed a shaking finger at the man. "Y-y-you shouldn't be able t-to exit the ci-cir-circle without our b-business being c-concluded!" He stuttered our through chatter teeth, the cold affecting his speech.

"Did you really think this old book was based on fact?" The man said as he picked up the book from its place on the floor where it had fallen upon his arrival. "Simply calling for my presence is enough to get my attention, I merely played along out of curiosity." He snapped his fingers again and the candles reignited and he held the book over he nearest one, watching as it caught aflame. "In truth, the two of you were always going to get a visit from me. After all, had you two not run that night seven year ago... I might not have died."

A memory, unbidden, returned to the brothers. The night they took Krogan to a gas station to test his safe cracking skills under the guise of a robbery. The same night a young boy caught them with a gun and killed the third party. They had seen in the news the boy had been mistaken for the one responsible for the robbery and been killed by the police. The brothers had gone on believing they had managed to get away with it, as they silently went back to running their operation in the shadows. How could they have ever guessed that boy would come back as a demon? The man, who Viggo remembered was named Hiccup from the news reports, let the last pages of the book burn to ashes in his hand before he spoke again.

"However, I'm prepared to offer you a... Stay of execution. You will give me a detailed list of everyone in your employ, as well as every corrupt cop and official you have dealings with and what those deals with you are." He dumped the ashes on the ground as a piece of parchment and a quill appeared before Viggo. "Take heed, should you write any falsehoods or leave anything out, the quill will scar it onto your body. I will know one way or the others this is just the quickest way to get the information I want. And should you be forthcoming and honest; I'm willing to allow you both to live out the rest of your lives without any further interference from me." His eyes flicked back to the brothers, "Do we have a deal gentlemen?"

Viggo was weary, this was supposedly the devil, anyone would be cautious when he is setting the terms. This would more than likely mean the collapse of their entire infrastructure within the city of New Berk, but the alternative was obviously death at the hands of their metaphorical past come back to haunt them. Carefully, he reached for the quill.

Just before the quill met parchment, Hiccup spoke again. "Oh and Viggo..." The man in question looked up, "In case it wasn't clear: give that quill any reason to cut you and the both of you die here and now, so none of those half truths you're so fond of using in your deals with your dirty officers." The younger brother nodded his understanding and began to write.

A few minutes later and the completed list of their associates as well as every corrupt member of office and law enforcement was finished. Both Viggo and Ryker were made to sign it as a testament of its authenticity and in agreement of the deal they made which was added to the bottom. The moment Ryker had lifted the writing utensil from the paper, it rolled itself up and floated to the devil standing nearby. He opened it immediately and read the names silently before he looked back at Viggo. The criminal could tell the demon was searching for any indication that he'd less than honest; upon finding none he grinned and rolled it up again.

"Well then I do believe that concludes our business for this evening. I'll see myself out."

"Wait just a minute!" Ryker shouted, prompting Hiccup to turn around with a scowl and arched eyebrow. "How are we supposed to get out of here!? The ice you created is blocking every way out!"

The scowl morphed in a sly grin. "I'm afraid you'll have to figure that one out on your own Ryker. In accordance with our deal, I will allow your to live out the rest of your lives without _further_ interference. To remove that ice would be a breach of contract, which you have both signed." Hiccup explained while waving the rolled up parchment in his hand.

Before either brother could form a response he was gone, and they were left trapped.


	5. 5

Astrid was surprised when she answered the knock at her door to find Hiccup standing there. He'd disappeared from her couch roughly ten minutes prior saying he had to look into something, why hadn't he just popped back in to her apartment? As if reading her mind he spoke, "I figured it would be nicer to come in properly this time. You didn't seem too thrilled by my just letting myself in earlier, which reminds me: that gun won't do you any good, you saw Snotlout shoot me in the head back in the Great Hall."

Of course he knew about her off duty concealed carry, why did she think she could pull one over on the devil? Hiccup entered with her permission and reclaimed the seat he had been in before he vanished, the sleeping wolf that hadn't moved since Hiccup vanished now lifted his head to give a yip of acknowledgement before Hiccup tossed him the last slice of pizza. Turning his attention to her once more, he spoke "I promised to answer your questions right? So fire away, metaphorically speaking." He added still eyeing the area she had her gun hidden.

With a sigh she pulled the weapon from her waistband and placed it on the table before sitting in front of him on the couch. "I have plenty of questions, but I'm curious as to what could be so important that you had to deal with it now?"

"Oh, that..." Hiccup began, reaching to run the back of his head, an old habit from before he died. "Some people that are on my list were trying to summon me. Doesn't actually work that way, but I wanted to humor their misinformation." He saw the look in Astrid's eyes and held his hands up in surrender. "Before you jump to any conclusions, they're still alive, for now anyway. They wanted to make a deal for control of New Berk, since I plan to drag them to hell eventually regardless I didn't give it to them." A flare of blue fire appeared in midair, startling the blonde, Hiccup calming grabbed the flame which immediately went out and left a scroll of paper in his hand.

"I did some renegotiating to give them some spare time and got a list of dirty cops and corrupt politicians in the city. I was thinking you might want to bring them to justice the old fashioned way, if not I can always just send them to hell in my own time." He explained as he held the scroll out to her.

Astrid told the scroll and opened it, scanning the list, several names she expected to be there were written down, some weren't. The real surprise was the politicians listed, Mildew was expected, but Sven? "Hiccup as much as I want to drag all these was people in an question them, the fact I'm getting the information from you will be called suspect at best. I didn't get this through proper channels or our own investigation, it's basically hearsay. And the fact that you made it public knowledge that you hate pretty much all of New Berk and plan to exact retribution on the town doesn't help our case."

This list was everything she had worked to get over the last few years, and now that she had it she could do nothing with it.

"Then we'll get it to you through the appropriate means." Hiccup calmly answered, grabbing a pen and paper. He wrote something down and held his free hand open in which another blue flame appeared, only to snuff out when he grabbed it. He handed her the paper and what looked to be a large and very sharp ice pick. "Go to this address when an anonymous call comes in tomorrow. You'll find the doors covered in hell-ice, use the pick there to break it. Inside you'll find the Grimborn brothers and I'm sure they'll be most forthcoming, especially if it secured them a way to live out the rest of their lives."

He didn't need to explain further than that, she knew where he'd been and who he'd been with. Astrid couldn't say she condoned his methods, but it would get her results. A stray thought of what it would say about her if she did condone the devil's antics crossed her mind, even if that devil was Hiccup.

Hiccup watches the emotions dance across her face, the minute details that only one focused on her would notice caught his full attention. "I should go..."

He stood, sure he could've just disappear without moving, but he wanted her to feel comfortable around him. His plans required her assistance for the best outcome, the longer those he was targeting feared their inevitable demise, the better. There was also the fact that despite a world's age worth of time passing for him during his one man war through hell, he still cares about her, she never left the spot she managed to carve into what was left of his dead heart. Hiccup could achieve his goals alone, but he didn't want to.

Astrid was on her feet a spilt second later and grabbed his arm. "Hiccup, wait!" She exclaimed, expecting his to simply vanish from her grip, but he remained. "I... I want to bring these people to justice. I just need time to fully come to terms that you want that as well. It's not something you expect from the devil." She let out a chuckle, "It's almost like that Netflix show, except you're helping from the shadows instead of being my partner."

She felt his hand on top of her own. "I may be the ruler of Hell now Astrid, but I'm still me. Granted I have some seriously repressed anger that I'm getting ready to deal out, but I still want this done right. These people should be made to pay for their crimes, in the end I get them either way; think of what we're doing as... a warm up."

The blonde gave a small smile at that, as long as they were both clear that those on the list would be dealt with within the law, she could handle it. Hiccup's eyes widened as he remembered something, "Oh and after you get off work tomorrow I would like to meet up, we'll need to discuss our plans going forward. You'll also need to meet my guy on the force so we all know whose on whose team."

Astrid raised her brow, he already had an inside man?

—————

Stoick looked at the men present in his personal study. It was late and they had all been there since he returned from Gobber's. These men were his most trusted and experienced council, he trusted them all implicitly and in this time of crisis they needed to stand together. Of course that didn't mean Mildew wasn't a pain in the ass still. For two hours now they'd been arguing about whether Hiccup's claims were genuine, or those of an extraordinary skilled con artist.

Mildew was of course the loudest about his belief that it was all an act, the work of someone proficient in tricking others. Hiccup hadn't seemed like the type to commit a crime before that night at Hoark's after all.

Sven was more willing to believe the claims as truth, he had been helping to hold the door shut when Hiccup revealed himself. He'd seen firsthand that the doors had been utterly demolished from the giant wolf creature's forced entry, even had a large sliver of wood pierce his arm from it. That arm was now wrapped tightly and secured in a sling.

Then there was Spitelout. Stoick wasn't sure were he fell on this subject, he'd been uncharacteristically quiet for sometime now and didn't seem to respond to being asked. The mayor could relate, it was a hard and bitter pill to swallow.

Stoick however knew the truth. Hiccup was 100% telling the truth when it came to his devil status, of that there was no doubt in the man's mind. Stoick had been the one to ID him after the shooting, he'd read the autopsy report and seen the body; it still haunted his nightmares at times. He even watched the small funeral Gobber had given the boy against his wishes from across the graveyard where he was buried. His old friend had practically threatened a few people to get a plot next to his own eventual grave for his godson.

It's not that Stoick didn't want to attend, but he knew that he had no right. He'd disowned his only son, a political move that had ensured his re-election as being intolerant of crime; of course the moment he had his office to himself the sheer weight of what he'd done bore down on him. When the door had closed, the air left his lungs and he fell into his chair and silently wept. He'd failed his son, there was no other way to look at it. Maybe if he had put more effort into their relationship after Val has passed then the whole thing could've been avoided, maybe his son wouldn't have turned to crime. Stoick had blamed himself for the death of his son for the last seven years, regretting his neglect that pushed the boy to the choices he made. It seemed the universe did as well when Hiccup stood before the city and declared his hatred and desire to see Stoick die.

Leaving the men to their arguing, he walked over to his personal decanter and poured himself a scotch, his preferred drink when he was dealing with too much. He knew that the people would be looking to him to lead them out of this as he always had; but for the first time since his wife had passed, Stoick Haddock had no idea what to do.

"Alright that enough, the lot of you!" Spitelout shouted at last, everyone's attention now focused on him. Everyone save Stoick who merely took another gulp of scotch. "The truth of the matter is we can't be sure either way of the boyo is being telling us the truth or lying, so we should carry in as if he is really the devil while looking for signs he's merely deceiving us. A lie of this scale can't be easy to pull off; so any tricks will likely have set up required, so we just need to keep him off balance as much as possible! Agreed?" There were shouts from all the men present, all sounding their support. "...Stoick?" Spitelout asked after a moment of silence.

They waited for his answer while he finished his drink. Stoick didn't want to voice his answer, he didn't want to believe that his child was capable of this kind of deception or hatred that he'd try to destroy his home. He didn't turn around to face them, but they could see his nod of affirmation.

"Then we are all in agreement, when he shows himself again we will stand united. And any 'sins' he tries to sell us about the each other should be ignored." Once more the men all gave sounds of agreement.

Just outside the door stood an officer posted on guard duty for the men within the study. "Fools, the lot you." They said to themselves.


	6. 6

"So e'eryone on this list had been making deals with those Grimborn brothers?" Gobber asked as he scanned the list, Hiccup had shown up again that morning and informed the man on his impromptu meeting with the infamous pair the previous evening.

"That's right, got it from Viggo himself. He and Ryker will be taken into police custody at some point today... I actually enjoy the idea of letting them live with the knowledge that they'll be coming to me anyway, builds up the fear." Hiccup answered.

"How can ye be sure tha' they were being honest? I mean Spitelout was a given, but Sven? The man seems to be one of the most kindhearted people left in Stoick's company." Gobber asked, some of the names on the paper seemed too far fetched, but the lad seemed certain beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Hiccup merely pulled a red feathered pen from his sleeve. "This is a handy little torture device from hell. It's used on those whose were a compulsive liar in life and used that to manipulate or hurt others, their voice is stripped from them and these pens are their only method of communication before they are put in a scenario where they could lie to their heart's content; but any lie they write will be carved into their skin painfully. Might seem rather harmless to you or me, but to those people it's like taking away the very essence of who they are, being unable to spin their lies is a fate they can't comprehend." He chuckled, "There's this one girl, she was called Lila in her life. She was Italian but lived in France, had her whole high school class eating her tall tales up until a couple of students who knew the truth managed to bring down the veil of lies... she really can't take that punishment."

The pair were having a spot of tea while they poured over the names on the list, Hiccup trying to figure out whether he wanted to bring them down individually or as a group, he definitely wanted Spitelout to be on his own, to savor that oh so sweet taste of vengeance that he craved. As he took a sip from what Gobber had designated as 'his mug' before his death, Hiccup's eyes were drawn to one name in particular.

"How about we start with this one right here?" He suggested while pointing at the name. Gobber leaned over to get see which name he was pointing to and a mischievous grin broke out over his face.

"Yeh sure ye wan' te start with 'im? I'm not against the idea, but ye dun wanna leave him for later?"

Hiccup shook his head. "The sooner this one goes down the better, if I'm lucky then he might suffer an episode from that 'heart condition' he's always raving about when anyone brings a valid criticism against him. I'll contact my people in the police force and let them know we've decided on our first move, then meet with them tonight so we all know who is on our team."

Gobber raised a eyebrow at his godson; demon or not the boy was still his family. "Ah yes, ye get to see Astrid again tonight. If not for the revenge plot, I'd say yeh two were picking up from yer date from years ago."

The thought of the ruler of Hell blushing would sound ridiculous to anyone, but Hiccup's ears turned red all the same. "It's been seven years for her Gobber, and I don't even want to try and count the years for me; waging war on and taking over hell took a long while, but bringing stability once I was in control took some time too. I'm sure she's moved on from one date that was originally just to stop Snot pestering her from back then."

The old mechanic simply smiled, the lad still had no confidence when it came to romance; especially when it concerned Astrid Hofferson. He knew better of course, she'd been to Hiccup's grave at least once a month since he died; Gobber wasn't sure if it was possible for a relationship to thrive given the circumstances, but if it was he hoped the pair found the way to do it.

The patrol car drove down the streets of the old warehouse district at a leisurely pace, most of the buildings were empty due to one reason or another. The largest one was used on weekends for a farmers market, but other than that mostly a few homeless and seedy individuals lurked in these parts.

Astrid scanned the doors, trying to spot the one covered in ice that would indicate the location Hiccup had trapped the Grimborns in. Her partner and former T.O. Eret was driving silently, she hadn't explained why she wanted to patrol this area this morning and was less chatty then usual. Things hadn't felt this awkward between them since she was assigned as his boot a week after they had gone on a disastrous date, it took nearly two months for them to be able to be more casual with one another. Naturally they never dated again, Astrid even setting him up with a couple friends of hers(Eret was still convinced that introducing him to Ruffnut was a cruel joke).

Ever since the night of the storm where the mayor's son appeared and proclaimed he was the devil, Astrid had been off. Eret had been told the story of her first date with him, and how they never got a chance at a second. He'd also heard about her suspicions of a coverup; and while he didn't like to question his superiors or their records, he'd helped Astrid a few times to keep her out of trouble and had to admit that there was a lot about the case that didn't add up. Looking at his partner again as he turned onto Larsonson Drive, he was worried that the boy might have faked his death to plan this elaborate hoax; it could leave Astrid open to being emotionally manipulated.

Astrid snapped her head up as she spotted something, she shouted for him to stop the car and was jumping out before his foot left the gas. Following as quickly as he could, Eret jogged up to an entrance of a warehouse that had the same greenish ice from the Great Hall covering it. Eret has heard from others who had been assigned to clean the hall of the ice, it was found that the ice didn't melt and nothing they used even so much as chipped it.

Astrid approached the ice with little concern and pulled a sinister looking ice pick out from one of of her hip pouches. Without preamble she stabbed the ice, the pick sinking in easily and the entire wall shattered instantly. As soon as the doors flung open the pair could feel a rush of cold air as warmth invaded the interior of the building. Astrid didn't give her partner any time to ask questions as she marched inside. Eret took after her with some trepidation, she could be hotheaded at times and brazen at the best of times, but the look in her eyes was pure determination. Astrid seemed to know exactly where she was going as she came to another frozen door and once again shattered it with the strange pick.

Inside the room were two shivering figures: the Grimborn brothers.

The elder looked up at them for several moments, trying to decide if they were real or not. Astrid was apparently in no mood to wait for him to make up his mind and approached the pair with her cuffs. She began reading off their Miranda Rights as she secured the cuffs around Ryker's wrist, while giving a pointed look at Eret to do the same with Viggo.

The younger brother and head of their organization was easily the worse for wear, having less muscle and bulk to insulate him from what Eret can only guess was a great deal of cold. Picking up the shivering man revealed he was barely clinging to consciousness and couldn't put up a fight if his life depended on it, Eret had little doubt they'd have to be examined by a medical professional.

Hours later after the two had been cleared medically, the brothers found themselves in separate interrogation rooms. Ryker, being in better shape, was putting on a strong front of ignorance and pissing off anyone who spoke to him. Viggo on the other hand was simply sitting in silence, his eyes trained on the table in front of him with a far off look in them. Astrid and Eret stood in the observation room, he hadn't spoken since they's been found other than to thank the nurse that begrudgingly provided a blanket for him to warm up with, much to everyone's surprise.

Between Ryker's standoffish attitude and Viggo's nigh unresponsive behavior, it seemed like they were just going to be processed and thrown in lock up. Everyone knew that they had men scattered throughout New Berk, but without some form of cooperation the force couldn't do anything.

Seeming to mirror his thoughts, Astrid exited the room only to enter Viggo's interrogation room moments later. She sat across from him wordlessly and began to place the photos the forensics team had taken of the warehouse they'd been found in on the table.

"Gotta say; if I hadn't seen this stuff spread out when we found you and your brother, I'd assume it was from bad horror flick where a bunch of teens summon a demon and it kills them." She stated flippantly, taking the chair on the opposite side of the table and fixing Viggo with a glare. "That kinda thing is typically only found in movies and the odd crazy person's basement. So why is it that the heads of a criminal organization were found near one?"

Predictably, Viggo didn't respond.

Astrid sighed before leaning forward and saying in a hushed tome that Eret could just make out, "You know between the two of us I have a pretty good guess. You or your brother believes that Hiccup Haddock is telling the truth and tried to summon him didn't you?" The man's eyes snapped from the table to the blonde across form him, pay dirt. "If I had to guess I'd say it was Ryker, you strike me as the type who prefers the logical approach over anything unknown like potential supernatural forces." Astrid said more to herself than Viggo.

"You're smarter than I gave you credit for Ms. Hofferson." Viggo spoke softly.

Astrid smirked at his response. She pushed a couple images forward, "Then walk me through it, how did you both end up trapped in a frozen shut warehouse? Cooperate and we might be able to get you a favorable deal on your sentence. I can't promise reduced time, but maybe keep you away from the competition you'll have locked up with you."

The unspoken threat was received loud and clear. Viggo began reiterating the night before, if Astrid thought any of the ludicrous bits were made up she didn't show it. After that he clammed up again, stating he'd turn over details about their operations and the names of those he had dealings with once he got assurances for both himself and his brother that they'd be separated from anyone that held possible grudges against them in prison.

Astrid walked out of the interrogation room only half satisfied. They both knew he was asking for a lot, but the head prosecutor owed her a favor; so they just might get that deal. Eret fell into step beside her as they made their way to a room he avoided like the plague.

Fishlegs Ingerman was in no way intimidating, no in the least, he was a chubby yet soft hearted man that took his job from a seemingly uncharacteristic sense of justice. No he certainly had no intimidation to him whatsoever... he wife on the other hand, scared Eret shitless.

Ruffnut Ingerman, formerly Thorston, was Fishlegs' wife of two years. Eret was always sure to keep his distance from her despite his partner's claims that the woman was over him, and when he had to be around her he made sure that Astrid was between them like a shield. Ruffnut and her twin brother Tuffnut were the forensic scientists of the department; while openly worshipping Loki and at one time being considered a local health hazard, the pair were brilliant when they set their minds to something. Eret recalled that once they solved a case by proving the killer wasn't dumping bodies in the local river at the spot the police had be searching; they achieved this by having Ruffnut tie her brother up and toss him in the river with a cinderblock hooked to his legs. While insane it proves that the currents were too strong in that area. It was also a day Eret spend several hours thanking every one of the gods that he wasn't stuck with her.

The prosecutor's office was small, just two people worked there; however Ruffnut was frequently present to spend time with her spouse when she didn't have any active cases to work on, Eret had been exposed to enough of their gushy type of love to always thank Freya that she hadn't sentenced him to that fate. It seemed the gods were merciful this day as only the other prosecutor was in at the time, they left a message for Fishlegs and Eret quickly returned to the safety of his desk.

Astrid was grateful that her plan to scare her partner off with the possibility of running into Ruffnut pod off; she never truly intended for him to be scared of the other blonde, but it worked out for her every now and again. Quietly she made her way to the empty waiting room, she needed to get in touch with Hiccup and let him know that she got the info legally and they could start bringing those in power who were corrupt to justice. Part of her was surprised he wasn't already waiting for her in the secluded area, all the civilians in town seemed to have gone of full lock down in the wake of Hiccup's demonic display the night before. "Hiccup?" She asked aloud, he'd told her that was enough to get his attention.

At moment passed and nothing happened.

Had he just been screwing with her this whole time?

"Hiccup, you'd better not have been lying to me or I swear on all gay in holy..." she started to seethe as her limited patience wore thin.

A crunch had her spinning around to look at the vending machines. There stood a familiar mess of auburn as the devil bit into another mini pretzel. "You know these things are stale?" He said in loo of a greeting.

"What the hell Hiccup!?" Astrid demanded probably a little too loudly, "you said you'd come when I called."

"And here I am." He stated plainly, "I never said I'd do so promptly, besides I already knew you'd get Viggo to spill. I already told our other accomplice that we'd be meeting up tonight, be at Cove Park tonight at nine. That's when we'll go over what we know and how we intend to move forward."

His nonchalant irked her, but she can't really get mad at the devil for playing devil's advocate. The irony of that thought hit her as Hiccup vanished in the blink of an eye.

Astrid was at Cove Park by eight-forty. She preferred to be fifteen minutes early, and it wasn't far from her place.

It wasn't hard for her to spot Hiccup sitting at a bench near the pond on the center of the area, Toothless was curled up at his feet and only lifted his head to acknowledge her. Hiccup offered her a smile that once more resembled the boy she'd gone out with years ago, it honestly threw her how he seemed to switch from that boy to the embodiment of evil at the drop of a hat.

She joined him on the bench and he wordlessly handed her some bread crumbs. They passed the time in comfortable silence feeding the few ducks that were still about until the rumble of an engine was heard just before nine.

"And there's our final member." Hiccup finally spoke as the light and noise from the vehicle cut off. Astrid stood and turned with Hiccup to see who she would be collaborating with over the course of this endeavor, how ever she was not expecting the person who emerged from the light fog.

"YOU!?"


	7. 7

Spitelout was in a bind. Not only had the Grimborn brothers been found and apprehended the day before, but Viggo had also given up details of his dealings with certain parties that the chief of police would rather stayed hidden. Thankfully when Hofferson turned over the list of names she'd been given, his had been left off. Spitelout had taken many payoffs to look the other way when the brother's organization was involved with certain activities...

The only reason he could think of would be that Viggo planned to twist his arm in order to secure release for himself and Ryker. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be an issue, but Stoick had caught wind of the arrest and was currently on his way to speak with Viggo personally. Spitelout knew his half brother still longed to hunt down Valka's murderer, but with the help of the men working with him in the mayor's office, they'd managed to keep Stoick busy with his stronger urge to serve his people.

This however was unavoidable, not only had the Grimborns been a thorn in the justice system's side publicly; but Stoick believes they have a connection to his late wife's death. If there was one thing that even the tiniest child in New Berk knew, it was that Stoick Haddock's stubbornness could put even a mule to shame. Then on top of all of that, Mildew was demanding police protection. The old coot cited that he was an important member of the cabinet and couldn't risk being left unprotected in case their newest public problem came for him.

Hiccup was the mystery that Spitelout longed to really look into; the others, Stoick included, were all convinced that his devil claim was just an act paired with some form of trickery that gave the appearance of demonic power. Spitelout hadn't said anything aloud, but he wasn't as certain. He remembered the night he killed his nephew clearly, he'd seen the blood spreading from his chest were his heart was. Deep down he knew that there was no way for someone to survive a wound like that, Hiccup was well and truly dead before any other officers or paramedics arrived. This knowledge was the seed from which a sapling of fear had sprouted since the day of his reappearance, the fear that the boy he'd killed really was telling the truth and acquired the power of the devil.

Then there was Snotlout's behavior since that day; he'd barely spoken to his father and when he did it was always as short as possible. He was currently on Mildew's protection detail, having volunteered quickly in what the chief could only guess was an attempt to put distance between them. Spitelout sighed, he'd have to schedule some time off for them both and try to reassure his son, they'd need to be unified if they were to have any hope of stopping Hiccup.

The doors to the station flung open as the large shape of the mayor barged in without preamble. The man's face was set in a scowl as he marched towards the interrogation room that Viggo had once more been placed in, Spitelout wondered if the man had any idea what was about to come through the door. Since this wasn't an official interrogation, the cameras would be off; of course the police chief would be in the observation room to ensure that Stoick didn't do anything that would be considered unseemly. He had a passing thought to let the mayor strangle the criminal and solve his problems, but sadly Stoick's time in the political realm had cooled his temperament and allowed him to better deal with people overtly trying to manipulate him. For now, Spitelout just had to hope that Viggo was as smart as he claimed and wouldn't mention their entanglement with each other.

—————

Mildew was many things: a liar, an embezzler, and even though no one suspected it; a murderer. There is one thing that Mildew is not however: a fool. Stoick might not want to admit it, but that good for nothing son of his was a real threat, whatever tricks he had aside, he was somehow able to orchestrate the arrest of the Grimborn brothers within just a few days after his return. Spitelout had told all of them after the arrest was made, and the moment the old codger heard that the goody two shoes officer Hofferson had being the one to bring them in he knew that the Haddock boy had been involved. Then to make matters worse she somehow managed to get a list of people the brothers had dealings with out of Viggo, no doubt all their names were on that list.

So Mildew took the only sensible course of action and demanded that he be given a protection detail, of course with Spitelout's rather fatheaded son being apart of it Mildew questioned its effectiveness. While the police chief might be able to stall any investigation into any of them by local law enforcement, Stoick's boy was clearly working outside the law with his 'devil' persona and would have no qualms about coming after one or all them if it suited his agenda. The boy was ready for the police response that first night in the Great Hall, but Mildew wanted to see him get by the armed guards now stationed outside his study.

This room was his sanctuary, holding records of all his less than legal work as well as his best scotch. The safe hidden behind a picture of himself and his dear pet sheep Fungus kept those records well protected as the lock was biometric and required his thumbprint to open, making it extremely difficult to break into. As the old man poured himself another helping of the amber liquid, the sound of his chair creaking caused him to spin around.

There in his custom built back support chair was the self proclaimed devil.

Hiccup was leaning back nonchalantly while balancing a letter opener on his index finger by the tip of the blade, looking bored as if he'd been waiting for Mildew to arrive as opposed to having found a way to sneak in. "You know I was originally planning to just kill you outright and enjoy the literal eternal torture you'd receive in Hell; after all we've got a special place for you." Hiccup said without preamble, "Fortunately for you however I'm a devil of my word, and I promised that you and the rest of your conspirators in Stoick's council would be dealt with legally. So if you'd be so kind as to just turn yourself in we can skip the part where you try to resist and ultimately fail."

Mildew didn't waste anytime. "Guards! Guards, get in here! The boy managed to get in!" Several seconds passed and no one came through the doors.

Hiccup was pretending to check his nails while Mildew waited for his protection to come, only to snap his fingers a moment later. "Oh you mean those officers that were standing guard outside this room? Right, they're unconscious; probably should've lead with that..." Not believing the younger man, Mildew made for the door; only to find it ice cold and refusing to budge.

When he turned back around around to face Hiccup, the boy was now standing by his small bar and pouring a glass of scotch from the decanter. "Also I made sure the door was sealed shut. Your only options for getting out of this are to either turn yourself in and admit your crimes to the police, or we do things my way and I get a jumpstart on that eternal damnation you're most assuredly getting when you die." Hiccup explained before the question had fully formed in Mildew's mind. "So what will it be old man? Gonna own up to your crimes or do I get to have fun?"

Trying the door again in the hope that he was bluffing, Mildew deflated when it still refused to move. He was trapped in his study with the boy and that left him with only one real option: play along until an opening presents itself. Turning toward Hiccup, Mildew put his best negotiating face on and tried not to show his irritation at finding the young man lounging in the desk chair with his feet propped up on the desk itself while balancing what appeared to be a dagger made of greenish ice on his index finger. "Alright then boy, it seems you got me cornered. Show let's discuss the terms of this deal." He said through grit teeth.

Hiccup stopped fidgeting his finger and set his cold gaze on the elder. "You're quite the card aren't you Mildew." He said before standing up, flipping the blade and catching it by the handle. "There's no deal here, just an ultimatum. You either come clean and turn yourself in to the police; or I kill you right here and now and take you to hell." A sadistic grin spread over the younger man's face, "Either way you will be made to suffer, you are simply being granted a choice of how you wish to is all."

"That's just cruel!" Mildew shouted at him, "Forcing an old man to pick between two miserable choices, I got a heart condition you know!"

Hiccup tsked but was clearly hold back a chuckle. "You really shouldn't lie you know, I might just take your choice away from you. Just know when you come to hell; and you WILL be coming to hell, your ex wives will be there waiting to assist in your torment." Mildew backed away in shock at the mention of his late wives. "That's right, I know all about how you slowly poisoned them in order to secure their fortunes. Always playing the poor widower that has misfortune with his marriages." His grin widened. "You'll also need to confess to them as well."

Shock was an understatement for what Mildew was feeling in that moment, there should be no way that this boy could know of how he disposed of his wives, the last one having been when he was a mere child, no more than six years old. The poison he'd used was one he had grown and used himself to eliminate any chance there being a trail that would lead back to him as a suspect, he'd also fed them the poison slowly over months to ensure that it wouldn't show up in tox-screen reports. Yet despite all these measures and impossibilities, Hiccup still somehow knew about them down to the detail of how he'd gone about it.

"Time's just about up Mildew." The boy spoke again, bringing the elder back to the present predicament he was in. "Make your choice: call the police and tell them you wish to confess; or do nothing and win an all expense paid trip to the pits of hell." Hiccup smiled sadistically, "I'm really hoping for the latter personally."

With little choice and no chance of escape, Mildew went to the desk and grabbed his phone. He didn't call the police directly, instead he called Spitelout's cell. Hopefully that would give him some wiggle room with official records having no evidence of his call. The call was answered after the third ring, "It's Mildew, I want ter come in and confess...". The old man told the chief on the other end of the line, Hiccup thankfully couldn't hear the other side of the call and smirked thinking he got what he'd wanted. "That's right, I'll let the men on me protection detail know and come in with them... Thank you."

As he hung up the call, he glowered back at the younger man who was smugly leaning against the wall next to his self portrait with Fungus. "I made me choice, now are we done here?"

Hiccup smirked once more and nodded before snapping his fingers, a moment the doors were flung open causing Mildew to spin around and see Snotlout burst in with the other officer that had been stationed outside the study. They had their weapons drawn and looked around frantically as they barged in, Mildew thought of berating them, but instead pointed towards Hiccup. "He's right there! Get him!" The officers however gave him dumbfounded looks, causing him to turn back around and find the spot where Hiccup had been vacant. The window didn't open and only lead to a fifty foot drop, and the officers were still near the door meaning he couldn't have slipped by them to get out unseen. For the first time that night Mildew truly questioned whether or not his claims were really just an act; but he pushed the thought from his mind for now, Spitelout was expecting him. "Take me ter the station, I need to have a word with yer chief!"

As they led him out of his study and towards the garage, none noticed a slim auburn figure stand from behind the bar, with a bottle of scotch in hand. Hiccup chuckled to himself at Mildew's arrogance in thinking he'd managed to deceive the devil, the moment he chose to lie about who he was calling it was laid bare before the 'younger' man.

Once he saw the headlights driving away followed by two squad cars, Hiccup casually knocked the gaudy portrait off the wall and used the ice dagger he'd made to slice the locking mechanisms so it could opened it without issue by anyone. Inside was a treasure trove of evidence that would air out all of the man's dirty laundry, now Hiccup needed to pop in to visit Astrid so she'd be up to date on the developments and take the necessary steps to ensure Mildew didn't walk away from this.

Their inside man was already proving to be invaluable in their quest to legally bring down those that were abusing their power or breaking the law to hurt others. Though Hiccup thought that simply killing them and taking them to hell would be easier, something in him just couldn't deny Astrid her request. Perhaps a lingering bit of his humanity remained within him and she was connected to it in a way few others were; a question of later.

For now, Hiccup would go along with the plan; they were getting ready to choose the next target.


End file.
